Hi-Res Downloads

Frank La Rocca/Richard Sparks
Requiem For The Forgotten (192kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.cappellarecords.com; Cappella Records CR-430

For some reason I’d never found time to listen to or review this set from Cappella Records. Time to correct that oversight and rue what I’d been missing, for this is a fabulous recording of two works of great emotion and power, with the Requiem in particular deserving comparison with the very best examples of the genre. The Benedict XVI Choir & Orchestra, a new discovery for me, is capable of great swathes of sound, all recorded in a glowing, luminous, and spacious acoustic. The soloists, drawn from the choir, are of a very high standard indeed, and the organ accompaniment is superbly deep for those who want serious bass. La Rocca writes music as approachable as it is moving, drawing for the Requiem on his roots and the 1941 murder of a Ukrainian priest by the Bolsheviks. The only regret here is the continuing relevance of music such as this in a very troubled world. AE

Sound Quality: 90%

Lab Report

The wider the sample rate/bandwidth the more chance there is for hardware, cabling and other engineering ‘clutter’ to introduce noise and spuriae. Not so here – this 192kHz file is supremely ‘clean’ and possessed of a fine dynamic range. PM

Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, Tyshawn Sorey
Compassion (96kHz/24-bit, WAV)
www.ecmrecords.com; ECM 2760

Forgive the gutsiness of opening an album with almost a minute of percussion solo, and this is an immensely likeable set, both for the musicianship and the stellar sound quality. The opening drums and cymbals see Tyshawn Sorey’s kit captured crisply and with real power, the bass of Linda May Han Oh sounds sonorous and so full of character, and Vijay Iyer’s piano is both weighty and delicate. Whether drawing on Desmond Tutu in ‘Arch’, joyfully bopping through Stevie Wonder’s ‘Overjoyed’, evoking a world of emotion in ‘Where I Am’, the multi-textured ‘Ghostrumental’ and ‘It Goes’, or grooving out on ‘Free Spirits/Drummer’s Song’, this is clearly a trio of musicians fused together and entirely as one. At times lyrical, or just going for it, this is a fine set, harmed not one bit by the close attention to detail in the recording. AE

Sound Quality: 85%

Lab Report

Another fine 96kHz ECM download, very cleanly recorded at Oktaven Audio, NY, with peaks ranging from –1.1dB to –6.5dB across a well above-average dynamic range. Hash-free percussion fills the bandwidth above 20kHz. PM

Thomas Strønen, et al
Relations (96kHz/24-bit, WAV)*
www.ecmrecords.com; ECM 2771

High concept – or is that high complexity? – albums don’t come much higher, or complex, than this. Drummer Strønen, recorded solo with an expanded kit, sent his recordings out to other musicians around the world to ‘duet’ with him. All of which may explain the anomalies PM points out in his Lab Report [below]. Strønen plays solo on just two tracks – the introspective opener ‘Confronting Silence’ and the punchier ‘Arc For Drums’, and while the illusion of virtual duets just about comes off, the results are, to these ears, somewhat hit and miss. The musicians work hard to contribute to the already laid-down drum tracks – even if Strønen does leave some gaps of silence into which they can slot. It’s a somewhat esoteric exercise, rather than a ‘kick back and tap your toes’ set, but it admittedly does have its moments of fascination. Oh, and the drums are beautifully recorded. AE

Sound Quality: 80%

Lab Report

Dynamic range is huge (trks 1, 9 and 10) but much of the set peaks very close to 0.0dB. Tracks 4 and 5 contain lower Fs samples in the mix with the same digital alias [black] seen in ODINCD9595 [HFN Jan ’25] and Grappa GRCD4809. PM

Exponential Ensemble
Matters Of Time (96kHz/24-bit, FLAC)
www.americanmodernrecordings.com; AMR1055

Combine the name of the performing group and the title of the album, and what else would you expect other than a programme of contemporary chamber pieces based on the theme of science? With inspirations as diverse as a NASA recording of the Sun’s corona, dark matter and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, you might have every right to expect this album to be dry, academic and as worthy as ditchwater, but the reality couldn’t be more different. Recorded with excellent vitality and lots of light and shade – or that corona and dark matter? – this is a fascinating set, ranging from the fluidity of Gilad Cohen’s pensive ‘A Dark Matter’ suite to the exuberance and playfulness of Robert Patterson’s ‘Relative Theory’, which is joyful in its evocation of celebrated mathematicians. Who knew science could be so much fun? Or indeed so rewarding, both sonically and musically? AE

Sound Quality: 80%

Lab Report

Recorded at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, NYC, the four parts to this album are all true 96kHz files, normalised to –1.0dB and possessed of an ‘average’ dynamic range. Some low-level, ultrasonic untidiness [black]. PM

Reverso
Harmonic Alchemy (96kHz/24-bit, WAV)*
https://ryankeberle.com/reverso; Outnote Records OTN645

The fourth album by jazz-fusion trio Reverso – American trombonist Ryan Keberle, Franco-German pianist Frank Woeste, and French cellist Vincent Courtois – follows their earlier outings drawing on Maurice Ravel and the composers of ‘Les Six’ with a set based around Gabriel Fauré. But this is much more ‘inspired by’ than any kind of jazzed-up takes on Fauré’s works – thank goodness! – with the result that these are original pieces based on an immersion in the styles of the French composer, and with a life all their own. And for all of PM’s misgivings about the true nature of the recording – see Lab Report below – there’s no denying that the trio’s instruments and performances sound a bit special here, from the lyricism of ‘Floricel’ to the playful drive of the opening ‘Cascades’, the three swapping the lead effortlessly. It’s a total delight throughout. AE

Sound Quality: 80%

Lab Report

Trks 5 and 11 peak at 0.0dBFs so clipping may occur in DACs lacking ‘digital headroom’. Moreover, while we were supplied a ‘96kHz’ file – and it will certainly register as 96kHz via your DAC or software, it’s really a 44.1kHz set... PM